Shows why a 50% fall needs a 100% gain, and how long recovery takes.
How to read the results
Recovery gain is 1/(1−drawdown)−1; time is the log of that over the expected return.
Drawdown recovery calculator
Shows why a 50% fall needs a 100% gain, and how long recovery takes.
Built and reviewed by Dovanic, Founder and editor, FreeByteLast reviewed: 2026-08-18
$
35%
7.0%
Gain needed to recover
53.8%
Time to recover
6.4 yr
- Value at the bottom
- $208,000
- Paper loss
- $112,000
- Value in five years if you hold
- $291,731
- Value if you sell and stay in cash
- $208,000
Methodology
Recovery gain is 1/(1−drawdown)−1; time is the log of that over the expected return.
- · Returns are smooth, not path-dependent.
- · Ignores contributions during the fall.
Estimates only. Nothing here is financial advice. Spotted something wrong? Tell us and it gets fixed.